The role of niche conservatism, genetic variation and facilitative species interactions in explaining the invasion success of non-native species.

By addressing several understudied aspects of invasions, this project aims to increase our understanding of invasion success. First, using data on bird introductions in Europe, I will assess the validity of the often used assumption of niche conservatism (i.e. the tendency of species to retain ancestral ecological traits), as niche shifts during invasion may allow species to occupy habitats different from the ones used in their native range. Second, I will use the invasion of Europe by ring-necked parakeets to study the influence of intraspecific niche variation on invasion success. Geographical variation in niche requirements can result in variation in speciesenvironment relationships, and ignoring this can lead to both over- and underestimates of the invasion potential.Lastly, most research on biotic interactions has focused on negative interactions (competition, predation). However, facilitation could be equally important and the recent colonization of European cities by different parakeet species offers an opportunity to study facilitation among invading species.

Keywords:BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS, ECOLOGICAL MODELLING

Disciplines:Animal biology